Lamentations 5:13 (LSB)

Passage

Young men lifted up the stone at the grinding mill, And youths stumbled down under loads of wood.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 5:11 They violated the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah.

Lamentations 5:12 Princes were hung by their hands; Elders were not respected.

Lamentations 5:13 Young men lifted up the stone at the grinding mill, And youths stumbled down under loads of wood.

Lamentations 5:14 Elders have ceased from being at the gate, Young men from their music.

Lamentations 5:15 The joy of our hearts has ceased; Our dancing has been turned into mourning.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "young", "lifted", "stone", "grinding", "mill", "youths", "stumbled", and "down". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "young" and "lifted", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "Princes were hung by their hands Elders..." into verse 14's "Elders have ceased from being at the...", so "young" and "lifted" belong inside that flow. In Lamentations context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "young" and "lifted" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.